It all began in the Spring of 2009, we were introduced to a high school glee club made up of misfits AND popular kids. Each character had some quirk that made them likable even when they were annoying the crap out of you (cough*Rachel*cough). If they didn't seem like a good person from the beginning, they usually won you over with their singing or a really moving storyline (i.e. Santana's bitchary is usually outweighed by her adorable love for Brittany and her fantastic singing voice). So many 90s kids sit down every Tuesday (or Wednesday morning on their computer) to watch the new episode of Glee. They sing along to the soundtracks in the car and it has sparked a whole new fad of acapella groups and cover songs on Youtube. Since most of us are past high school age, it makes me wonder, what is it that draws us into a show like Glee?
Back in the day, a new Disney movie meant new songs to sing in the car, a new fairy tale retold, a new cartoon hero to admire. Today a new Disney movie means cute new baby clothes, new additions to Disney trivia games, and a boatload of movie trailers for whatever else is in the works.
Those of us from the final generation of Disney musicals, we need something unrealistic, playful, and new to fill that void in our lives. Glee is just that thing. With almost cartoon-like characters in ridiculous storylines, singing about their lives without it being high school musical level of cheese (mostly because they sing real songs just in context), how can a generation raised on sing-a-longs not want to pick up a Glee CD?
As stated above, there is a certain amount of cheesiness that we appreciate in Glee. As kids we watched teenage sitcoms about friends and entire families that were ridiculous and silly. Yet in the end, each character proved to have a really good heart. Most of these shows went off the air a decade ago. However, many of us still cling to the nostalgia of these types of shows. It is one reason why many of us flocked on board to watch shows like Dawson's Creek, One Tree Hill, & the O.C. It was not because these shows were particularly good (although I maintain that the beginning seasons of these shows were well-written and well done, but I digress), we watched these shows because we felt that something was missing after all the other good shows had gone into syndication.
I bet even male audiences can relate to this. In the 90s we all had posters on our walls of the celebrities we adored and wanted to marry. Musicians and actors we nearly worshiped through the shrines we created for them.
Glee offers us a whole new set of drool-worthy lead actors who - guess what?.. are also musicians! Because these "high school" characters are actually all in their mid- to late twenties, we do not have to worry about being creepy for fawning all over them (unlike those of you who are into "the Biebz"). Now we have new celebrity crushes that don't make us feel corny when we want to buy a magazine with a story about them (except maybe when we buy the Heather Morris Seventeen magazine).
You probably weren't expecting me to go there, right? I am proud to be a part of a generation that is pushing this country to change. We want equality for everyone and the judgments and stigma associated with homosexuality/bisexuality to disappear. A high profile show like Glee is one giant step towards a better world where we are free to be "bi-corns" if we want. With two sets of couples on the show fighting for their own identities, those in the audience who had no real understanding of lesbian or gay people can now see the challenges they face (even in a high school glee club). Many of us in this generation see Glee as a refreshing new idea of normal.
Yeah, the storylines are corny but heck, they are funny! Sometimes we are laughing at someone else's expense but other times we are laughing because this show is just clever! I mean, personally, Santana is my favorite because she is full of a rabid sassiness that I will never be able to fully harness. I appreciate all of Brittany Pierce's stupid comments and I love me some small town humor. I imagine many 90s kids appreciate this show for it's ability to make them giggle and the number of quotes they can rattle off to any other Glee fan in the vicinity ("Rachel Barry is still on myspace, therefore unfit to lead.")
-Brianna
P.S. "No one uses myspace anymore. Not even Rachel Barry."